


Holo

by idrilhadhafang



Series: Darkpilot Missing Scenes [2]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Conflicted Kylo Ren, Conflicted Poe Dameron, M/M, Past Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron Needs A Hug, Pre-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:53:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26136826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: A picture brings back memories for Poe.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Ben Solo, Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron/Kylo Ren
Series: Darkpilot Missing Scenes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1895875
Kudos: 7
Collections: Hurt/Comfort Bingo - Round 11





	Holo

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Tyranny / Rebellion
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

They’d displayed a holo of the new Supreme Leader, also known as Kylo Ren, and it’s there that Poe actually did freeze, looking at it. The thin scar along those familiar features, the cold expression. It was like he bore the face of the man Poe loved, but he wasn’t the man Poe loved. He was nothing like the man Poe loved.   
  
Perhaps that was the worst part, Poe thought. Knowing that this man was nothing like Ben Solo. He was supposed to be composed, right, as Leia displayed the holo? And he was good at seeming that way. He was brave when he had to be; the Finalizer was proof enough of that.   
  
But when they were done with the meeting, fielding off comments and questions (some comments that were uncalled for. Even after what Ben had done to him, Poe could still feel the old, coiled nexu inside him waiting to maul anyone who ridiculed Ben), Poe retreated to his room on the Ajan Kloss base.   
  
Time. He needed time.   
  
***  
  
It was Finn who went after him. “You never really told me,” he said, “How you recognized him on Crait.”  
  
“I knew Leia,” Poe said. They sat on the bed together, Poe already feeling the tiredness leaking out of him. "I knew her son too.”  
  
“So you and Leia...”  
  
“She was always there,” Poe said. “I can’t think of a time when she wasn’t, actually. Ben and I were...friends.” There. He didn’t have to tell the full truth, about how he had loved Ben, once upon a time. How Ben had loved him...and it didn’t stop Ben from trying to destroy him.   
  
“Was he different then?”  
  
“A lot. He was...lonely. But funny. He could have the best sense of humor.” In some ways, they were compatible, Poe thought, having the same sort of snark, like a language only they understood. “He...was protective of me too. He seemed to think of me as some sort of god, which...I’m not a god, Finn. I may be doing the best I can, but I’m not a god. In a way, I saw him as like a god too, with his abilities. I remember he felt alone because of them at times. And he was always trying to be perfect. Pure in thought, word, deed...” Poe exhaled softly. “Kylo’s nothing like him.”  
  
A beat. Finn spoke. “I saw him unmasked too.”  
  
Poe couldn’t fight how his heart sped up just then.   
  
Finn continued. “It was at Starkiller Base. Han...Ren’s still a bastard for what he did, but there was a moment when he didn’t seem like that was all he was. Han was trying to reach him and Ren...he was crying. I...couldn’t really understand it, something about knowing what he had to do but not knowing if he had the strength to do it...”  
  
“Stars.” Now Poe wished that he had come back. Ben...by the stars, Ben needed to come back.   
  
Finn continued. “And even on Tuanul, when he was killing those villagers...there was one moment. I don’t know if he just happened to be kind or anything, but...he let me go. And I got the impression that our escape from the Finalizer was too easy...”  
  
“It was,” Poe said. Had Ben been careless? Had he, inexplicably, been conflicted enough to let Poe go?  
  
Poe couldn’t picture it.   
  
“I guess I just don’t get it,” Finn said.   
  
Poe nodded. He couldn’t disagree with that.   
  
“Do you want me to stay a while?” Finn said.  
  
“You can."  
  
He didn’t know yet what would happen to Kylo Ren, but Finn’s company...he could appreciate it, for what it was worth.


End file.
